Get all 48 Paul Shapera releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Puppetshade Chronicles 1: The Black Beyond, The Posthuman Cabaret Live, Kevin & Abi And The Secret Of The Stolen Sun, Jill's Psychedelic Sunday, The Posthuman War Act 6: The Battle, The Posthuman War Act 5: The Pursuit, The Posthuman War Act 4: Red River, The Posthuman War Act 3: A New Dream, and 40 more.
1. |
A New Dream
12:04
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Jill:
So hope begins to dawn, a brand era wakes and yawns
The boys take Marjolein under their jaded wing
The caravan comes to a close, on down the road, another show
As they try to teach her strange and baffling things
And the dream my friends, begins again
Oh, the lights ascend upon the stage again
Lloyd: You coax the narrative
Marjolein: Is it alive?
Raven: We ask ourselves that all the time
Lloyd: Is the universe conscious, or a god, or time...
Raven: We met Odin once
Lloyd: Oh, he was nice
Perhaps there’s minds above that we
Cannot comprehend or conceive
Raven: Is the universe a clockwork dance?
Lloyd: Yes, is it--
Raven: With fire boiling in its pants
Lloyd: What?
Lloyd: Think of life as all a play
Raven: Where plots don’t resolve and the playwrights insane
Lloyd: Can we just?
Raven: Sorry
Marjolein: So I should act
Lloyd: You need to be
Raven: To be’s the task
Lloyd: To seem is not to be
Raven: Excuse me, cryptic much?
Marjolein: Yeah, honestly
Lloyd: I see. So, how do we express the trick?
Raven: It’s like you can doctor up the script
Raven, Lloyd & Marjolein:
Let, let a new seed go, let a new dream grow
Let a new era usher in
Let all the sadness, be in the past let, love and a dream grow here again
Jill:
While our little crew attempt their task here someone new
Is even now appearing on our sordid stage
Sarah doesn’t know that she has flowered even though
She has begun with powers new and strange to play
And the dream my friends, begins again
Oh, the lights ascend upon the stage again
Sarah:
You’re fabulous and fine and those eyes so super sweet
There’s no chance a girl would have, not some poor old girl like me
And you take, and you take, and you take my breath away
How silly I must sound you must think me such a fool
I’m a deer caught in your light, I’m so nervous truth be told
And you take, and you take, and you take my breath away
And nobody’s been kind since my parents died you see
And that horse you’ve got right there oh my lord it’d be a dream
If you gave, if you gave, if you gave it now to me
And I know what you’ll do, what you wish you could want, what you want what you’ll choose
And I know it’s no use, what you just wanna do, cause I know what you’ll choose
You seem a bit dazed, let me take this horse here away
You’ll be okay, walk away... oh, I got a horse! ...Yay!
Marjolein: No offense but this is confusing
Lloyd: We’ve never taught this before
Raven: We have no idea what we’re doing
Lloyd: Through trial and error we did it when we
Raven: Lived the days of our lives
Lloyd: We had love and a dream
Raven: Artistry
Lloyd: Subtlety
Raven: Some flair
Lloyd: But finesse
It’s not about you
Raven: It’s a little like sex
Lloyd: A careful waltz with worlds just so
Raven: It’s all about the manipulation of tropes
Sarah:
So dashing and so smart and so strong but oh so sweet
There’s no chance a girl would have, not some poor old girl like me
And you take and you take and you take my breath away
I’m speechless next to you you must think me such a fool
And my mom has fallen ill, she’s not doing very good
And you take, and you take, and you t... hm, I see you’re resisting, alright let’s dial it up
This apartment that you see it’s a thing I really need
And your will is caving in so you’ll give it here to me
And you’ll give, and you’ll give, and you’ll give it now to me
And I know what you’ll do, what you wish you could want what you want what you’ll choose
And I know its no use, what you just wanna do, cause I know what you’ll choose
You seem dazed there my dear, take this pen and just sign right here
You’ll be ok, walk away... woah, nice apartment... Yay!
Lloyd:
What is it you do after the dream has come and gone
Raven:
When the person that you were has packed their bags and moved along
Lloyd & Raven:
When family isn't something that you ever knew much of
We've only got each other
Lloyd:
And I wonder
Lloyd & Raven:
Can love be enough
Raven: Can love, can love, can love
Lloyd & Raven: Can love be enough
Can love
Raven: Can love, can love
Lloyd & Raven: Can love be enough
Lloyd:
I used to feel so innocent, but now I feel so cold
An anger I can't recognize sometimes takes its hold
Raven:
I run in desperation from the person that I was
The one who yearned and never lived and never knew of love
Lloyd: Can love, can love, can love
Lloyd & Raven: Can love be enough?
Raven: Can love be enough?
Lloyd: Can love, can love, can love
Lloyd & Raven: Can love be enough?
Lloyd:
Perhaps the time will come for me to follow William's way
Raven:
Perhaps the past I'm running from will someday fade away
Lloyd & Raven:
It feels like we both stagger on a chasm dark and crude
And the only thing that keeps me here from falling is you
Can love be enough
Raven:
Can love, can love, can love
Lloyd & Raven:
Can love be enough?
Raven:
Come on everybody, we should go out for ice cream! Come on!
Ice cream, we should get ice cream
I know of a place a ways away,
Lloyd: A ways?
Raven: A quaint cafe
Marjolein: I’m game
Raven: Ice cream, this special ice cream
Oh, it’s just delish
Marjolein: In cone or dish
Raven: Whatever you wish
Lloyd: Well, if you insist
Raven: Ice cream, we’re getting ice cream
Marjolein: Well we’ve worked all day
Lloyd: We could use a break
Raven: So whattaya say
Let’s be on our way!
Sarah: Ice cream, I should get ice cream. That’d be pretty neat. Oh, and there’s that guy just
down the street...
....
Raven: So sir Tristan takes the sheep
Lloyd: Oh this part is disgusting
Raven: He takes out a knife the size of your head
Lloyd: I told him I really don’t need to try raw haggis that badly
Raven: Wait, what’s going on over there?
Guy: Lady, I’m telling ya, I don’t give away free ice cream.
Sarah: I see you’re resisting.
Guy: Resisting? Resisting what?
Sarah: Let’s dial it up
Sarah:
That ice cream there you see is a thing I really need
And I know you wanna give it, wanna give it here to me
And I know, and I know that you’ll give it here to me
Guy: Lady what’re ya talking about I’m not giving you nothing
Sarah:
Oh your will is just a sin you can feel it caving in
And it’s breaking, and it's breaking, and your will is giving in
Guy: No it’s not!
Sarah:
And you'll give and you give and you’ll give it here to... how is this not working?!
And I know what you’ll do, what you wish you could want, what you want what you’ll choose
And I know its no use, what you just wanna do, cause I know what you’ll choose
I know what you’ll do, what you wish you could want, what you want what you’ll choose
And I know its no use, what you just wanna do, cause I know what you’ll choose
Sarah: What’s that sound?
Raven: The narrative's tearing!
Sarah: What’s a narrative?
Lloyd: Here quickly, I’ll pay her bill and we’ll be on our way
Everything back in its place
You can’t force a narrative
Sarah: Who are you, what going on?
Marjolein: Hi, I’m Marjolein
Raven: We’re posties like you
Lloyd: Do you know what you are?
Sarah: So wait, you’ve got the power too?
I thought it was just me
Lloyd: We’re trying to build a place to teach people like you
Sarah: So what can you teach?
Raven: There are worlds beyond
Marjolein: You can jump to them and play
Lloyd: Join us, we‘d love to have you
Sarah: This is the start of a brand new day
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2. |
Sarah
04:48
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Jill:
So the far-fetched dream of a new playhouse comes to be
The boys take Sarah underneath their jaded wing
Sarah:
The celebration of liberation!
Lloyd:
Uh, the liberation of...
Sarah:
Being forced to scrounge and compete for the scraps of an unjust society like rats!
Lloyd:
Oh, yes, that is indeed a good thing
Jill:
It seems at last my friends they’ll have a family once again
Who they can show and teach such strange and baffling things
Sarah:
Freedom from the domination of those at the top of hierarchal structures keeping us
slaving at the bottom!
Raven:
Unconsensual domination. You can dominate me anytime you like, soldier boy
Lloyd:
Ravey!
Jill:
And the dream my friends, begins again
Ah, the lights ascend upon the stage again
Sarah:
A little girl talk, a little girl time we
Marjolein:
A little girl talk sit and spill some tea
Sarah:
A little girl talk a little girl time we
Marjolein:
Confidences and confessions with words we weave
Sarah:
A little girl talk, a little girl time we
Marjolein:
A little girl talk sit and spill some tea
Sarah:
My mother lived in bed for she
Was dying of some dread disease
I watched her slip away for years
In that ailing room of tears
My dad, he cared for her each day
Meds and wiping waste away
The money that her family left
Drained away as it got spent
It’s sad how she drowned
At the bottom of life, it ground her down and down
The sad gaze on up
To a life at the top that they will never touch
Every night my dad said I
Had girl scouts or some other lie
And to the bar, we’d go and stay
He’d drink and drink his nights away
I grew up there in grown up land
Amongst adults who could barely stand
The only sober one I played
Mind games with them in their drunken haze
It’s sad how they drowned
At the bottom of bottles, they would swig on down
The sad gaze on up
To a life at the top that they will never touch
One night finally round three
My mom was lucid, beckoned me
Sarah dear, she told me, please
My sweetheart, oh you must kill me
She begged and begged till finally
I took the pillow, set her free
For an hour there I cried
I’ve never shed tears since that night
And I will not drown
At the bottom of life, it will not grind me down
The sad gazing up
To a life at the top that they will never touch
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3. |
A Little Dinner Party
09:25
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Raven: We should have a dinner party!
Lloyd: A dinner party
Sarah: Oh I love parties
Raven: Call the old crew, celebrate our new playhouse. Welcome our new family
Marjolein: You mean like parties with people?
Raven: We can have a big dinner party chorus and everything
Sarah: What’s he talking about?
Lloyd: He’s being meta
Raven:
A little dinner celebration
Friends and cocktails, food, libation
Candlelight, hors d'oeuvres, and laughter too
A little dinner celebration,
Chatter, jokes, and some flirtation
Some social stimulation might just do
Invitations, friends, and conversation
Laugh away frustration for a night
Decorations, some intoxication,
Social medication with your wine
Lloyd: I’ll be in charge of the menu
Raven: We’ll need candles
Marjolein: I’ll do wine
Raven: And several aquariums, and maybe some burlesque dancers-- oh no, mimes!
Marjolein: For a dinner party?
Raven: Of course, we’ve got to give it a few perks
Marjolein: And the melted cheese volcano?
Lloyd: Everybody off to work!
…
Raven, Lloyd, Marjolein & Sarah:
A little dinner celebration
A feast fit for a coronation
The gang comes round to chat the whole night through
Invitations, friends, and conversation
Laugh away frustration for a night
Decorations, some intoxication,
Social medication with your wine
Lloyd:
So I found playing chess
Was the only way to get
My father to spend time with me
I was lonely and sad
So few comforts did I have
I won tournaments and matches as a teen
Later on in level 5
I would try to internalize
The archetype of the strategist and more
But it did things to me
Made me cold made me angry
And I can’t get back to who I was before
Sarah:
After mom died I feel
That I stopped being quite real
All my feelings are a show just like a clown
I can’t tell where masks end
And the real me might begin
It’s just masks for me all the way on down
So… what scares you the most?
Lloyd: Oh, this meat monster I used to read about in one of my penny dreadfuls as a boy. Used to give me nightm-
**Doorbell**
Raven: Our first guest is here, it’s Isabela!
Isabela:
Raven, oh my dear, you look so scrumptious. Come on here
Let me see you look great. Maybe you’re putting on some weight?
Lloyd my darling man I miss our talks, you’re looking tan
I always loved your stunning wit, Raven I loved you for your which
Reminds me, voulez vous, I have a present here for you
A gold chalice, its a skull, a viking lover from this fall
We sacked Lemuria, and, oh my dears, how it was grand,
But Lloyd, my darling man, put a martini in my hand
I sailed on the seas of distant worlds
I’ve rode through deserts made of gold
Oceans and caverns were my bedroom
But you, my friends, are comfort for my soul
Marjolein oh my, you look delish, the honor’s mine,
And Sarah dear, divine, what stunning fire in your eye
I pop around here by and by, four months ago was the last time?
Before that I was a mess, in a big hurry I had left
This inquisition, oh what fun, there was a bishop and a nun
And a pope, I all seduced, and the bishop’s mistress too
Now I’ve come here from Sakund. A transmasc who is a khan
He collects cities, oh the loot, but my darlings how are you?
Scandals, my dears, it is my hobby
I’ve ridden trolls out in the cold
Crystal caverns were my bedroom
But you, my friends, are comfort for my soul
**Doorbell**
Raven: Oh look, it’s Jill and Michael!
Jill: Well boys you look great
Michael: I hope we’re not here too late
Jill & Michael: Oh you’re a sight for sore eyes I must say
Jill: Here we’ve brought you some wine
Michael: A little scotch oh the side
Jill & Michael: Let’s get this evening’s events underway
Jill, Michael & Raven:
Coming with the love and the groove, we missed this, we missed you
It’s good to be here together, alive
A little evening with friends, all here together again
A little laughter and chatter and wine
Jill: So I told Michael there are other ways to pay a goblin queen
Michael: It was a weird night all right, but not the worst I’ve ever seen
Sarah: Lloyds always talking about how it’s a dance, it’s a subtle dance.
Isabela: Lloyd’s an odd one, it's true, but you should give his advice a chance. His patience and delicate touch usually pay off.
Sarah: But that’s the problem with his advice. The forces that hold you down, they never give up power without a fight.
Raven: So the idea is to build an extra-dimensional carnival
Michael: Oh, that’s great
Marjolein: It’s insane, you should see the things that he collects
Michael: I can’t wait
Sarah: Oppressors can’t be reasoned with, power only understands force
Isabela: But Sarah, we’re not talking about people. With nature, how are you going to go to war?
Jill: He gets a lot of visions and I think he’s drinking a lot more
Lloyd: Visions are tough to manage, so many intense emotions
Jill: That’s for sure. They’re pretty sad, and especially his and there’s so many. I don’t know what to do.
Lloyd: I'm not sure if any of us really know, but... but at least he has you.
Sarah: There's the pit and there's the peak and it's up to you to decide on which one you wanna be.
Marjolein: I just think it’s so cool you’re a witch, I didn’t know they could be that gorgeous
Jill: Oh, aren’t you the kind one?
Marjolein: Oh god! I didn’t mean, I… uh… oh god I’m so embarrassed!
Isabela: I was thinking of heading out to one of the far strands for a bit
Lloyd: That bump in your belly, is there anything you wanted to tell us?
Isabela: Always the perceptive one. Promise me you won’t say a word to Raven
Marjolein: They’re trying really hard, but it’s a hard thing to explain
Jill: They adore you, and I can see why and if you ever need a break… I don’t know your tastes, but you can feel free to pop by my room?
Marjolein: Your room?
Jill: You know, at night…
Marjolein: Why at night?
Jill: Oh my god, you’re so bad at this. It’s adorable!
Marjolein: Bad at wha... oh.... oh… ohh!
Jill: No worries, just a little invite
Michael: You seem to be holding it together though
Raven: For the manicness keeping busy really helps
Michael: And the depression?
Raven: For some reason, proximity to Lloyd holds that off well
Michael: It’s the Lovers archetype
Raven: We stayed there too long
Michael: Nothing to do but manage it from here
Raven: Merrily we roll along
Everyone:
A little dinner celebration
Friends and cocktails, food, libation
Candlelight, hors d'oeuvres, and laughter too
A little dinner celebration,
Chatter, jokes, and some flirtation
Some social stimulation just might do
Invitations, friends, and conversation
Laugh away frustration for a night
Decorations, some intoxication,
Social medication with your wine
Sarah:
Hey, we should make another show. You know, like Caravan, but... better
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4. |
Building A Show
06:42
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Raven: Good night everyone, it was wonderful to see you all
Isabela: We must do this again my darlings
Lloyd: Be careful traveling so far out. The metaverse can be a dangerous place
Isabela: I have Michael here to look out for me
Michael: I’ll take good care of her, don’t worry
Lloyd: We’ll talk about “you know what” later
Raven: You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you like
Jill: I just need a little base of operations for a few months. I’ll be coming and going
Raven: We love to have you. It feels like home again.
Jill:
So the gang agrees to once again design, conceive
Another show they hope will free post humans from their sleeping state
A new dream has emerged and so inspired they get to work
Their show “The River” will give birth to an era gold and great
Raven, Lloyd, Marjolein, & Sarah:
Let, let a new seed go, let a new dream grow
Let a new era usher in
Let all the sadness (let all the sadness) be in the past let
Love and a dream grow here again
Let, let a new seed go, let a new dream grow
Let a new era usher in
Let all the sadness (let all the sadness) be in the past let
Love and a dream grow here again
…
Jill:
They bond as they create, exchange ideas and innovate
But underneath a darker weight begins to subtly emerge
Soon convictions and debates will lead to dark and bitter days
Alas the good days never stay, and soon the mood itself will turn
Lloyd:
The show’s designed with a river that winds
Through their psyche, in fact, the eight circuits of mind
They must break these deceits they perceive
Concepts that they believe, views of reality
Raven:
The trek alas can be both wretched and sad
A spiraling path where one believes that they’re mad
You understand we must be the soft hand
Through this laborious land, gently go as we can
Sarah:
The burden lies not to compromise, coddle and indulge those who will not rise
It’s our fate here to liberate, to create a strong, great and higher race
Raven: I’m not comfortable with
Sarah: Sleep with me
Raven: Wait, what,
Sarah: You’re always game, let’s do it
Raven: I don’t... I’m not comfortable with... not with playhouse family
Sarah: You slept with Isabela and Lloyd
Raven: But Isabela isn’t really... and Lloyd... Lloyd
Sarah: So it’s just me
Raven: No, I just... I’m not comfortable
Sarah: All right, I get it
Lloyd:
Our players lead by
Raven: Puppies
Lloyd: Puppies?
Raven: Puppies
Lloyd:
To the caves and the realm
Of their subconscious selves
A disconnect here we usually try
But maybe beauty instead we can use here
Sarah:
Why?
You yourselves said that trauma’s key
All their lives are just shades and fantasies
Raven:
Trauma’s not some mirage, it’s real
What’s not illusion is all of these things that you feel
Sarah:
Life in chains is suffering it’s already pain how can you not see
We must use the most effective means, they will thank us when they are finally free
Raven: How did you flower?
Sarah: Well there was a... this… lt involved… It involved a... a poltergeist. I don’t wanna talk about it. I... I don’t wanna talk about it.
Lloyd: Ravy, don’t be silly
Raven: I’m not, there’s something off about her. It’s not just some of her ideas. Sometimes I get glimpses behind her mask, there’s some dark resentment brewing.
Lloyd: Ravy, love and a dream, remember? Don’t ruin it.
Jill:
The months they pass on by, some are happy but despite
Their intentions though they try, trouble brews beneath the waves
The differences we see, in their two philosophies
Become bitter till one day, tempers flair and finally break
Sarah:
The world is just a miserable place where dominators dominate
We must free and liberate it is up to us to an army make
New recruits you train and break, you mold as soldiers recreate
It’s not a dance, some give and take, power doesn’t give so you must take
Flowering just shows you that you’re a puppet still licking boots and cracks
Narratives hold you in their grasp, just another boss, just another laugh
If we really want to liberate, be on top, it’s an army we must make
I couldn’t even get a simple ice cream, but our army will conquer all reality
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5. |
Pillow Talk
02:44
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Jill:
Pillow talk at 1 am
Fingers holding close
Marjolein:
Intimate admissions
With eye contact and no clothes
Jill:
I worry now for everyone
For Asha and the gang
I fill my time with futile tasks
To keep away the pain
Marjolein:
I try to learn and to become
But think I’m just a fake
I worry I will never be
Worth the time they take
Sarah, she’s so competent
So sure and then there’s me
Bumbling through everything
I seem but never be
Jill: Pillow talk at 1 am
Marjolein: Fingers holding close
Jill: Intimate admissions
Marjolein: With eye contact and no clothes
Jill:
Marjolein you’re wonderful
You’re more than what you think
In time you’ll gain the confidence
I wish that I could give
I feel I’m manic pixie dream girl
Wandering through life
Gaze at shiny objects
To distract my frightened mind
I bring the fun but never bond
I’m lonely, sometimes cry
The playhouse gangs the only ones
I feel are ever mine
Marjolein:
I’m lonely too, for being trans
The place I was brought up
Was difficult, and here’s
The only chance for home I’ve got
Jill:
Pillow talk at 1 am
Fingers holding close
Marjolein:
Intimate admissions
With eye contact and no clothes
Lloyd:
Is our new dream stumbling
And I can just not see
It seemed like we had joy
Another love another dream
The coldness and the anger
For a minute disappeared
It seemed we could recapture
What we lost back then to tears
Raven:
I keep the manicness at bay
I keep my sanity
I hold to you so tight
Maybe I feel you cannot breath
Paradise was lost
And our hearts broken but you know
We can’t ignore the darkness
That is building even so
Jill:
You know I saw Sarah in this nearby strand. Coming out of this theatre in the dead of night.
Marjolein:
Maybe she went to see a show?
Jill:
No. It was like she was rehearsing. Something very demanding, she looked really, what’s the word, expended? Like she’d been sweating something fierce.
Marjolein:
I wanted to try to talk to her privately, try to ease the tension that’s been building. Away from all this. If you can tell me where, I’ll go there and try to talk to her. Somewhere Lloyd and Raven aren’t around. Maybe calm things down.
Jill: Good idea.
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6. |
Blue River
03:24
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Jill:
So Marjolein decides to surprise Sarah and to try
To talk to her and pacify the growing strain
The next evening then she heads to the dark theater Jill had said
Where some performance is just getting underway
And the dream my friends, expires again
Oh the light descends upon the stage again
Marjolein:
Sarah? Hey, it’s me. Wow, what’s going on here?
Sarah:
Marjolein! What are you doing here?
Marjolein:
I thought to come, maybe have a chat
Stop the tension that is growing that
I think is hurting us I thought that you
Maybe just need someone to listen to you
I thought that if we maybe talk it out
We could heal the rift and calm the whole thing down
I still love you and want to be your friend
Be a crew, a family again
Sarah (trying to think fast):
Huh… Hmm.... Tsk… Ok… Uhm... ok...
I’ve thought and changed my mind
I think Lloyd was probably right
And I’m trying now to build
Build you all a big surprise
And I need, and I need, and I need you to help me
You startled me but hey
I’m real glad you went and came
I need someone here who knows
And I respect you Marjolein
And I need, and I need, and I need you to help me
I need you please to try
To see the show from the inside
It’s so gentle how I tried
To make the journey really kind
And I need, and I need, and I need you to help me
And you know what to do
The only one that I know, who has done this is you
If you don’t like it shout
A safeword and then I will stop and let you on out
The safeword we’ll say is yellow. Is that ok?
Say it and I will stop and call it a day
I really appreciate this, Marjolein. I’m so nervous showing this to Lloyd and Raven, but it’s really benign and gentle. This version is called Blue River. I really think you’ll like it.
Ok, ready? The cast is all in place.
Ok, ready, set... Go.
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Paul Shapera Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Cama’s attempt to commune with higher beings failed; she only found Decadent Dottie. Together they roamed, indulging in dangerous forms of psycho-neural self-exploration which Cama hoped would present the key to her people’s further evolution. It only led to her destroying her people so that one of their pets could evolve. She sat in her former civilization's rubble and listened to Paul Shapera. ... more
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